


Burned Into Stone

by infp_tuna



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Analysis, Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Not a lot but it's there, Slightly - Freeform, Vague Depiction of Violence, i guess, kinda. sorta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24315325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infp_tuna/pseuds/infp_tuna
Summary: One thing can be said about Genesis Rhapsidos: he burns. With power, with passion, with drama. Nonetheless, somethings burn for him more than others.---A story chronicling Genesis burning his legacy into things
Kudos: 10





	Burned Into Stone

**Author's Note:**

> I started his b/c I had Emotions about Genesis and Bahamut. Didn’t know where else it would go but I’m okay with the results. Not my best work but it’s the first in over... a year. Oh gees.
> 
> Anyway, a part of this was inspired by @Up_sideand_down and a cute clack fic they wrote on Tumblr. Because sometimes things that sound canon to me just stick in my head. 
> 
> Here is said fic:   
> https://up-sideand-down.tumblr.com/post/181988800687/could-you-do-number-12-or-13-with-zakkura

The first time Genesis had summoned Bahamut, he was a disaster afterward.

He said, after he gained back consciousness of his body, it had felt like he was lighter than air. That if he had moved he would have gone flying. His mind was somehow not attached to his body, rather a passive observer to his actions. Time had no power over him for the hour after the battle. Thankfully it didn’t last longer than that. 

The second time Genesis summoned Bahamut, the trio was a little more prepared.

The fight wasn’t long, but it was unexpectedly tough. Any other Summon would have done the job, but, as per usual, Genesis’ flair for the dramatic came first. By the end, he was shaking and failing to stand up. Angeal scooped him up and carried back to base. Rest, food, and a solid hug seemed to do the trick this time, getting Genesis back into reality in forty minutes.

Anytime after that, there was a pattern. Summon the Great Dragon, catch an exhausted Genesis, take him somewhere safe to recuperate and stop his disassociation. It got easier with time and slowly Genesis got stronger and stronger with each Summon. 

When he found Ifrit, it was a cakewalk to use. Genesis was even amused at how Ifrit’s power felt like an old, comfortable sweater compared to what Bahamut did. Warm, cozy, possibly ugly but still endearing and nostalgic. And fights got easier to handle too.

\---

Genesis fiddled with his Summon materia. The mako inside swirled and created new galaxies. It was beautiful, limitless. Cadets strolled by the tent, keeping their voices low and failing to not have their conversations be heard. SOLDIER ears were keen to pick up everything.

He still felt the itch to tear through the camp, a side effect of being in his own head while the side effects raged through. He gave it five minutes until it stopped, but the feeling was undoubtedly annoying. He felt light; if he so much as moved, Genesis knew he’d lose whatever control he had gained back. He frowned at that thought, setting his focus back onto his materia. 

Something heavy landed on top of his head.

Surprised, Genesis slowly put a hand on said object. It felt like a coat, it  _ was  _ a coat. Although an unusually heavy- ah, wait, pauldrons. Genesis maneuvered the coat to see a swath of silver hair facing him. He smiled to himself, pulling Sephiroth’s coat tighter around him, still clutching to the materia and slowly finding rest.

* * *

Genesis was one to avoid ninety-nine percent of the cadets. They are loud and brash, uncoordinated and undeveloped in their techniques. It made it hard to choose any sort of protégé, but he felt one would distract him from one day surpassing Sephiroth. Both he and Angeal already had protégés, so really Genesis didn’t need one.

That was until Cloud went and decided to sideswipe Genesis’ plans so utterly and completely.

Picture a normal mission: Genesis commanded, soldiers fell in line, and the rest was history. It should have been an in-and-out job. So, of course, a Nibel dragon came out of nowhere to fuck shit up.

Genesis had never fought one of these beasts before. Then again, he had never been near Mt. Nibel. To say the very least he was confused as to why one was out this far from its territory. This whole situation had  _ ‘What The Actual Fuck’ _ in bright, sparkly red font all over it.

His men were tossed like ragdolls.  _ He  _ was tossed like a ragdoll. So much so that he lost his precious Bahamut. Of course, at the most pivotal moment, he loses the one Summon he brought with him. No matter; he’d cook this reptile alive. And he was doing a pretty thorough job of it until- 

Bahamut, his Bahamut, burst into the playing field with such ferocity it sent him flying yet again. When the dust settled and he could actually see what was going on, Bahamut had slain the other dragon. Slain it dead. Genesis’ head whipped back and forth, trying to find where the  _ hell  _ the person who did this was. There were no other SOLDIERs on this mission, no one else that should’ve been able to  _ do  _ that. And yet.

The Red Commander stood up, dusting himself off. He had to find who did that,  _ had  _ to. One, to congratulate whoever managed to pull that off, and two, because we needed his materia back. Genesis watched as Bahamut circled back to the form of a cadet. A cadet on the shorter end, looking as if they were about to collapse. Genesis rushed over just in time to catch them before they face-planted.

The name of the cadet was one Cloud Strife, the field medic told Genesis, who was born and raised in a nowhere town and whose only claim to fame was an irrationally spectacular score on materia usage. The medic also said that was probably the only reason Cloud had been able to summon Bahamut with little effort, despite how small and untrained he was.

Needless to say, for the first time ever, Genesis had the urge to take up an apprentice.

\---

Training Cloud was a dream come true.

The blonde, although not as talkative or enthusiastic as any other cadet (or even Zack), made up for it in attentiveness and working the hardest Genesis has ever seen anyone work; his admirable hard work was amplified tenfold by his apparent gift.

Just as the field medic had told Genesis, Cloud’s skill in Materia and magic, in general, was off the charts. And under Genesis’ strict teaching, he thrived.

It was a strange thrill, being a mentor. Knowing you are putting your best out into the world through a sort of legacy. Or maybe it was when Genesis overheard other cadets congratulating his apprentice on his skyrocketing performance. Or maybe it was the fact that every time Cloud got something right and lit up with a genuine smile, it made Genesis feel like  _ he  _ was doing something right. Cultivating something that could, in theory, set things right later on. 

Genesis would later smile to himself, as he heard about how Cloud was blazing through Midgar and the land surrounding. 

Genesis had started that fire. And he was so very proud.

**Author's Note:**

> Bug me on tumblr
> 
> Main: infp-tuna  
> Writing/Art: tuna-creates


End file.
